NRG Home Solar Opens First Connecticut Office In Middletown

BRIAN DOWLING, bdowling@courant.com

NRG Energy's residential solar company has officially expanded its operations into Connecticut, opening a Middletown office for business on Wednesday.

The company joins an active, though crowded, market that includes dozens of small businesses as well as large national companies like SolarCity and SunRun, who are already selling or leasing solar panels to homes and businesses in Connecticut.

"The time leading up to today has been this explosive growth" in the solar market, said Kelcy Pegler Jr., head of NRG Home Solar.

He said in an phone interview that consolidation is beginning to occur throughout the market, and the companies that fall on the right side of that consolidation will be the ones that make it easiest for home owners to get solar.

"The industry is being won by the ease of customer adoption," he said.

NRG Home Solar's expansion comes months after the residential solar division of energy giant NRG acquired Roof Diagnostics Solar, which already operated in a number of states. NRG Home Solar operates in California, Connecticut, Arizona, Colorado, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, New York and New Jersey.

In Connecticut, the company says it plans to fill more than 75 new positions over the next year.

Headquartered in Princeton, N.J., and Houston, Texas, NRG is a diversified energy company with divisions that provide electricity supply, solar installations, home energy services, public charging stations for mobile devices and electric vehicles.